


Just A Front

by HallowsEve1031



Category: Mr.Beast, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Beating, Belting, Choking, Face Punching, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I made my favorite youtuber suffer, I'm Sorry, Self-Harm, graphic description of child abuse, just like I do with all my stories, like at 2am
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-27
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:09:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27631862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HallowsEve1031/pseuds/HallowsEve1031
Summary: Karl was private about his home life and past. His parents weren’t great and they hurt him constantly, which made him get depression, and anxiety. Because of the constant abuse, he started to self-harm to have something to control, but none of his friends know. They barely know anything about him. When he walks into the studio one day wearing a hoodie with the hood pulled over his head, they started to question. When he lowered his hood, what was revealed shocked his friends.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs & Chandler Hallow, Karl Jacobs & Chris Tyson, Karl Jacobs & Jimmy Donaldson
Comments: 8
Kudos: 157





	Just A Front

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Very Graphic Child Abuse, involving punching, being belted and choking. Self-harm, although not really explicit.
> 
> \----
> 
> This isn't Julie and The Phantoms!  
> My beta: @a_tomb_with_a_view

Karl Jacobs was known by his friends for being outgoing and happy. That was just a front. He never invited his friends to his house, so they assumed he just lived alone. But he still lived with his parents, his abusive parents. See, his parents were clever. They never hit him in the face, only on his stomach and back. On his back, there were welt scars from belts, which is why he never took off his shirt — that and the fact he was continually covered in bruises. Another reason was the cuts on his wrists; old cuts that had scarred and new cuts. As happy as being with his friends and doing challenges made him, it couldn’t save him from going home.

One night, he had stayed out late with his friends at the studio. He was having an enjoyable time talking to Chandler, Chris, and Jimmy and didn’t even bother to check the time. When he did, he cursed lightly.

“I gotta go,” he told his friends, seeming to be in a rush to pack his things and get out. The other three stared at him in confusion.

“Is everything okay?” Jimmy asked, concern laced in his voice.

“Yeah,” Karl said, too quick for his liking. “It’s just really late. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” With that, he left to confront his impending doom. Arriving home, he got out of his car and walked to his house, unlocking the door soundlessly and hurried inside. Once the door closed, he was faced with a punch to the gut and he groaned, collapsing to his knees.

“Do you know how late it is?!” His father screamed at him.

“Yes sir,” he said softly, standing up and clutching his stomach. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t need your apology!” His father spat, striking him across the face after Karl had stood up. Karl gasped and held his hand to his stinging cheek, tears developing in his eyes but he didn’t dare let them release. His parents seldom ever hit him in the face, so he must be in real trouble. “Your mother and I were worried sick!”

Karl resisted the urge to roll his eyes. No, they weren’t. They didn’t care about him. He gave a whimper when his hair was seized firmly and he was pulled to follow his father to his own room. He despised being punished in his room, they took his safe space and made it someplace to be fearful of; his parents perceived that. He was shoved against his wall, back pushing against it. Still clinging on to the boy's hair, his father began striking him in the guts and even in the face, splitting his lip and creating a cut on his cheek. Once his father stopped punching him, he let go of the boy’s hair and observed him crumble to his knees. He used a foot on Karl’s back to overpower him onto his stomach and Karl let out a whine when his father started kicking him. Karl curled up, attempting to protect his head, leaving his stomach and thighs exposed. His father kicked him a couple of times in the ribs and then his thighs before retreating. Karl was wheezing for breath and tears had fallen down his face without authorization.

“Get up!” His father demanded. Karl instantly responded, standing up with a wince and gazing down at his feet. “Take off your shirt and face the wall!”

Karl grasped what was about to happen. He managed to get his shirt off with a few whimpers of pain before facing the wall. He overheard his father take off his belt and without warning, it was slashing across his back. He let out a cry, anguish seeping into his voice as the slicing hits kept occurring until his back was bleeding. He felt his father turn him around and slam him against the wall, making him wail out in agony as his freshly wounded back hit the wall. He gasped when his father enclosed his big meaty hands around his neck and squeezed hard. Karl whimpered and attempted to pathetically hit his father and make him slacken his grip but the effort failed. When his father did let go, Karl began wheezing for breath.

“This is all your damn fault!” His father barked in his face. “If you had just come home at the right time, this wouldn’t have happened. Clean up this blood and go to bed. You will not leave this house tomorrow and if you’re on your best behavior, maybe I’ll be nice enough to let you out of your room. What do you say?”

“Thank you, sir,” Karl managed out in a hoarse voice. “I’m sorry sir.” With that, his father marched away and slammed the door shut, bolting it on the outside.

Sinking to sit, he let himself weep. Succeeding in getting up once he eventually finished crying, he limped to his bathroom he had in his room and grasped his razor. He didn’t even think as he sliced three cuts across each wrist. Lying his razor down, he glanced up in the mirror and grimaced. He had a bruise beneath his right eye, a cut on his cheek, and a split lip. Fuck. Then his eyes trailed down to his neck and he whimpered, containing fresh tears at bay. His neck had hand-shaped bruises developing. What did he do to deserve this? He asked himself as he cleaned his cuts and threw on a hoodie, changing into sweatpants after taking off his jeans and shoes and laying down in bed once he cleaned the blood from his wall. He sobbed into his pillow, weeping until he couldn’t anymore and he passed out. He wasn’t allowed out of his room at all the following day, but his parents left him alone. All he did was lie in his bed, encased almost entirely with his comforter, and stare at the wall once he came to.

When the next day arrived, he was released. His parents weren’t home and he booked it out of there, not putting on his standard shoes. He just slipped on slides, grabbed his keys, wallet, and phone, and made a beeline for the studio. His parents didn’t know about the studio or where it was so that was his safe place. He didn’t even think to check his phone and when he did, he had messages from Jimmy, Chandler, and Chris. When he arrived at the studio, he pulled up his hoodie to cover his neck and drew up the hood before stepping inside. Only Jimmy, Chandler, and Chris happened to be there at the moment and they each turned to look at him when he wandered in.

“Karl!” They spoke at the same time, causing him to flinch. They gave each other a look before staring at Karl, who seemed like he had just rolled out of bed, which he did.

“Uhh hey guys,” he responded softly, which wasn’t like him. He was usually energetic when he was around them.

“We thought you were coming here yesterday,” Jimmy replied calmly, attempting not to spook Karl.

“I got grounded,” Karl answered without thinking before promptly kicking himself.

“I thought you lived alone?” Chandler asked.

“Umm no,” Karl said softly. There was no way out of this. Or maybe there was, but he desperately required help. “I live with my parents still.”

“Hey, why are you wearing your hood?” Chris questioned. “In fact, why are you wearing a hoodie? It’s kind of hot in here.”

“Umm no reason,” Karl responded swiftly. Fuck. Once again.

“Karl,” Jimmy said seriously. “Take off your hood. What are you hiding?”

Karl sighed and gradually took off his hood. He heard them gasp and he recoiled, studying anyplace but at them. He felt someone touch his shoulder and he gazed up to notice it was Chris. Chris gently grasped his chin and shifted his head to examine the side of his face.

“Karl,” Chandler pleaded softly. “Please tell us what happened.”

“If I do, you gotta promise me they won’t find me,” Karl begged. “Please.”

“I promise,” Jimmy answered softly. “Just tell us what happened.”

“I missed curfew and when I got home, my dad was mad,” Karl began softly. “My mom was already in bed. My dad punished me for being late and disobeying him. That’s it.”

“This isn’t a punishment,” Chris responded with a huff. “This is abuse, Karl. What else did he do?”

“You wanna know?” Karl asked, becoming fed up. He ripped off his hoodie and opened his arms wide, suppressing a wince. “Go ahead and look. Now you know. Oh, don’t forget to look at my back. Some of his best work, also my neck. That’s another great work of his. And my wrists? That’s my handiwork.”

All three of his friends gasped and quickly went to clean him up. He just let them. He stood there, processing as they cleaned up the dried blood, lost in thought to the point where he didn't even register the stings. When they ceased and allowed him to put on a different hoodie did he allow himself to cry. They all embraced him, not letting him withdraw as he sobbed into their arms.

“I’m too scared to go back,” Karl murmured when they pulled away. “He almost killed me last time. Please don’t make me go back.”

“Karl,” Chandler said softly. “We aren’t gonna make you go back. You have a home with us.”

“I don’t wanna be a burden to you guys,” Karl replied softly as he stared at his feet. He felt someone grasp his chin tenderly and raise his head. He discovered himself gazing into the eyes of Chris and he produced a sniffle when he observed nothing but love in his best friend’s eyes.

“Listen,” Chris said firmly. “You will never be a burden to any of us. We’re gonna help you through this. You’re not alone anymore. You’ve got us."


End file.
